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From the first moment the infant is applied to the breast, it must be
nursed to a certain plan. This is necessary to the well-being of the
child, and will contribute essentially to preserve the health of the
mother, who will thus be rendered a good nurse, and her duty at the
same time will become a pleasure.
This implies, however, a careful attention on the part of the mother to
her own health; for that of her child is essentially dependent upon it.
Healthy, nourishing, and digestible milk can be procured only from a
healthy mother; and it is against common sense to expect that, if a
mother impairs her health and digestion by improper diet, neglect of
exercise, and impure air, she can, nevertheless, provide as wholesome
and uncontaminated a fluid for her child, as if she were diligently
attentive to these important points. Every instance of indisposition in
the mother is liable to affect the infant.
And this leads me to observe, that it is a common mistake to suppose
that, because a woman is nursing, she ought therefore to live very
fully, and to add an allowance of wine, porter, or other fermented
liquor, to her usual diet. The only result of this plan is, to cause an
unnatural degree of fullness in the system, which places the mother on
the brink of disease, and which of itself frequently puts a stop to the
secretion of the milk, instead of increasing it. The right plan of
proceeding is plain enough; only let attention be paid to the ordinary
laws of health, and the mother, if she has a sound constitution, will
make a better nurse than by any foolish deviation founded on ignorance
and caprice.
The plan to be followed for the first six months: Until the breast-
milk is fully established, which may not be until the second or third
day subsequent to delivery (almost invariably so in a first
confinement), the infant must be fed upon one third water and two
thirds milk, sweetened with loaf sugar.
After this time it must obtain its nourishment from the breast alone,
and for a week or ten days the appetite of the infant must be the
mother's guide, as to the frequency in offering the breast. The stomach
at birth is feeble, and as yet unaccustomed to food; its wants,
therefore, are easily satisfied, but they are frequently renewed. An
interval, however, sufficient for digesting the little swallowed, is
obtained before the appetite again revives, and a fresh supply is
demanded.
At the expiration of a week or so it is essentially necessary, and with
some children this may be done with safety from the first day of
suckling, to nurse the infant at regular intervals of three or four
hours, day and night. This allows sufficient time for each meal to be
digested, and tends to keep the bowels of the child in order. Such
regularity, moreover, will do much to obviate fretfulness, and that
constant cry, which seems as if it could be allayed only by constantly
putting the child to the breast. A young mother very frequently runs
into a serious error in this particular, considering every expression
of uneasiness as an indication of appetite, and whenever the infant
cries offering it the breast, although ten minutes may not have elapsed
since its last meal. This is an injurious and even dangerous practice,
for, by overloading the stomach, the food remains undigested, the
child's bowels are always out of order, it soon becomes restless and
feverish, and is, perhaps, eventually lost; when, by simply attending
to the above rules of nursing, the infant might have become healthy and
vigorous.
For the same reason, the infant that sleeps with its parent must not be
allowed to have the nipple remaining in its mouth all night. If nursed
as suggested, it will be found to awaken, as the hour for its meal
approaches, with great regularity. In reference to night-nursing, I
would suggest suckling the babe as late as ten o'clock p. m., and not
putting it to the breast again until five o'clock the next morning.
Many mothers have adopted this hint, with great advantage to their own
health, and without the slightest detriment to that of the child. With
the latter it soon becomes a habit; to induce it, however, it must be taught early.
The foregoing plan, and without variation, must be pursued to the sixth month.
After the sixth month to the time of weaning, if the parent has a large
supply of good and nourishing milk, and her child is healthy and
evidently flourishing upon it, no change in its diet ought to be made.
If otherwise, however, (and this will but too frequently be the case,
even before the sixth month) the child may be fed twice in the course
of the day, and that kind of food chosen which, after a little trial,
is found to agree best.
Note: While every
care is taken to provide medically accurate and up to date information
in this web site, it is to be noted that this advice is not intended to
replace the advice of your physician. Before undertaking the advice
contained in this web site, you should consult a medical professional.
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